PRINCIPLES OF LEGAL REGULATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION MECHANISMS OVER THE ACTIVITIES OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES IN SELECTED EU COUNTRIES AND IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Abstract. The paper analyses the institution of administrative supervision over the activities of local selfgovernment bodies. This institution is designed to ensure that municipal authorities comply with the law, but at the same time – to establish clear limits of interference of the state authorities in the activities of local self-government bodies and officials, as a guarantee of the latter’s autonomy. To this end, the principles of administrative supervision are enshrined in the European Charter of Local Self-Government, as the main international standard of the Council of Europe member states in the relevant area. At the meantime, the practice of municipal legislation implementation both in Ukraine and in European countries shows that the choice of the appropriate model of administrative supervision is an urgent task for democratic states. The article analyses the principles of legal regulation of the administrative supervision institution in such European countries as Belgium, Lithuania, Poland, France, and Ukraine. The author defines the role of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in regulating such principles, outlines the problems of implementing the provisions of Article 8 of the Charter into the national legislation of the countries under study. In particular, the problems identified through the activities of the monitoring missions of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe are described. The article analyses the constitutional basis of administrative supervision. The author analyses the history of formation and the current state of the institution of administrative supervision over the activities of local self-government bodies in Ukraine. Despite the fact that Ukraine is considered to have implemented and is implementing in practice the standards of administrative supervision set out in the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the author identifies the shortcomings of this institution in Ukraine. Based on the study, it is determined that Ukraine can choose one of the following ways to develop the institution of administrative oversight: revision of the competence of local state administrations with their transformation into control and supervisory bodies or introduction of the prefect institution, similar to some European countries. Despite the fact that such transformations are impossible under martial law, it is already advisable to develop a clear plan for the modernisation of the administrative oversight institution.